* RSEE 0567a / HIST 0789a / HUMS 0213a, Six Global Perspectives on Cities  Nari Shelekpayev

This seminar takes a close look at six iconic yet profoundly distinct cities: Istanbul, Mexico City, Moscow, New York, Nusantara (Indonesia's nascent capital), and Paris. Moving beyond a chronological account, we explore how power, conflict, and ever-evolving approaches to urban design are etched into their material and symbolic fabric. Each of these cities is not only a palimpsest but also a living argument for specific trajectories and forms of urban life. We investigate how competing visions—imperial ambitions, nationalist projects, and capitalist forces—clash and coalesce to shape urban space. For instance, how do the Byzantine, Ottoman, and Republican layers of Istanbul—a city straddling continents and empires—interact, collide, and become selectively remembered or erased in the modern metropolis? Meanwhile, Nusantara presents a radical contemporary experiment: can a planned capital consciously avoid the pitfalls of congestion, inequality, and environmental degradation that plague Jakarta? What historical lessons from other planned cities apply, and what unforeseen social dynamics might emerge? We use a diverse range of sources—including literature, media, visual representations, and primary documents from politicians, urban planners, and residents—to investigate these questions. Enrollment is limited to first-year students.  HU, SO
TTh 2:35pm-3:50pm

* RSEE 1245a / HIST 1245a, History of Russia, 1801 to the Present  Staff

Survey of Russian and Soviet history from the Napoleonic Wars to the present. Focus on long-term patterns and developments across the divide of the 1917 Revolution. Major themes include: (1) political culture and ideology from the Enlightenment and tsarist autocracy to the rise and fall of Soviet Communism and the emergence of the Russian Federation under Yeltsin and Putin; (2) social and economic changes, life under serfdom, development of industrial capitalism, Soviet industrialization, and post-Soviet changes; (3) foreign policy, Russia’s imperial expansion, participation in WWI and WWII, post-Soviet armed conflicts; (4) major artistic and cultural movements. Particular attention paid to individual experience and daily life during various historical periods. Paper assignments focus on close readings of memoir and other personal accounts. The course is designed for students in all majors. No familiarity with Russia is needed or required.  HU  0 Course cr
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* RSEE 2210b / MUSI 4365b / RUSS 2210b / SLAV 3220b, Introduction to Russian & Soviet Music, 1800-1950  Nari Shelekpayev

Through a blend of immersive listening assignments and reading materials this seminar invites an exploration of the world of Russian and Soviet music, with a particular focus on the genres and forms that have left a mark on the musical landscape. We listen and analyze excerpts from operas, suites, sonatas, concertos, symphonies, and other musical pieces to learn how the historical and musical contexts have shaped the evolution of these genres and forms in Russian and Soviet music. This seminar expects to go beyond a mere historical overview; it delves into the genealogy of Russian and Soviet musical traditions, connecting them with their Western counterparts. It suggests that Russian and Soviet composers not only absorbed the influences of European music but also reimagined musical structures, and crafted original texts that seamlessly wove together established canons and innovative concepts. Additionally, this seminar aligns music with the key themes of intellectual and political history in Russia and the Soviet Union. We analyze how the multifaceted relationship between nationalism and Orientalism, the debates between Slavophiles and Westernizers, and the challenges of and responses to modernity have left their mark on the musical expressions of the time. We examine the historical context where it holds particular significance: for example, in the case of Dmitry Shostakovich's 7th Symphony.  HU
TTh 4pm-5:15pm

* RSEE 2220b / HIST 3222b, Russia and the Eurasian Steppe  Paul Bushkovitch

A study of Russia's interaction with the nomads of the Eurasian steppe. Topics include the Mongol invasion, the Mongol Empire in Asia and the Golden Horde, Islam, nomadic society, and the Russian state. Focus on conquest and settlement. May count toward either European or Asian distributional credit within the History major, upon application to the director of undergraduate studies.  WR, HU
W 1:30pm-3:25pm

RSEE 2254b / CPLT 2450b / RUSS 2254b, Tolstoy and Dostoevsky  Molly Brunson

Close reading of major novels by two of Russia's greatest authors. Focus on the interrelations of theme, form, and literary-cultural context. Readings and discussion in English.  HU  0 Course cr
TTh 2:35pm-3:50pm

RSEE 2312a / CPLT 2530a / HIST 1260a / HUMS 2550a / RUSS 2312a, Tolstoy's War and Peace TR  Staff

This course is a semester-long study of the quintessential big Russian novel, Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace (1869).  Set against the backdrop of Napoleon’s failed 1812 Russian campaign, the novel is a sweeping panorama of nineteenth-century Russian society and an unforgettable gallery of artfully drawn characters.  It also poses profound philosophical and moral questions.  What are the limits of individual agency, both in private life and in grand political arenas?  Do historical events have identifying causes?  What is a meaningful, well-lived life?  We also explore Tolstoy’s strategies for fictionalizing history.  What myths does he destroy and construct?  And how is this patriotic war epic also an imperial novel?  Reading the novel closely, we situate it both in its historical context and in our contemporary world.  Secondary materials include readings in history, political theory, philosophy, international relations, and literary criticism. All readings and class discussions in English.  No prerequisites required.   HU  0 Course cr
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* RSEE 3120a / FILM 3007a / SLAV 3120a / UKRN 3120a, Cinematic Ukraine: Culture, Identity, and Memory  Olha Tytarenko

This course traces the evolution of Ukrainian cinema from the avant-garde experiments of the 1920s to the vibrant post-2014 film resurgence. Exploring themes of national identity, historical memory, and resistance to political and cultural oppression, we analyze how filmmakers have shaped Ukraine’s self-conception through film. Topics include the poetic cinema of the 1960s, post-Soviet transition films, and contemporary works responding to war and cultural sovereignty. Students will engage critically with cinematic language, narrative structures, and visual aesthetics while incorporating perspectives from postcolonial theory and memory studies. The course features guest lectures from Ukrainian film directors and hands-on cinematographic workshops. Weekly thematic units pair films with historical and theoretical readings, offering a dynamic exploration of Ukraine’s place in global cinema and cultural history. None  HU
T 1:30pm-3:25pm, Th 6pm-9pm

* RSEE 3150b / EAST 3820b / GLBL 2320b / HIST 2213b, Against the West: Sino-Russian Relations  Jinyi Chu

This course is an investigation of four centuries of Sino-Russian relations. Joining techniques of historical and literary analysis, it examines how Chinese and Russian political and cultural developments mutually shaped the two countries’ ideologies, cultures, and social movements. By closely reading literary, historical, and visual materials, along with secondary sources, we uncover the global trends linking the two great nations’ peoples as they searched for the path to construct strong empires and nation-states. The legacy of this early Sino-Russian contact remains with us in the twenty-first century, as Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping evoke memories of early alliances, while Russian and Chinese dissidents appeal to Western liberal powers to support their resistance to authoritarian rule. The course engages us with a broader understanding of the critical global processes that define our present and point toward our collective future.  HU, SO
W 4pm-5:55pm

* RSEE 3316a / CPLT 3003a / EALL 2880a / EAST 3250a / RSEE 316 / RUSS 3316a, Socialist '80s: Aesthetics of Reform in China and the Soviet Union  Jinyi Chu and Jing Tsu

This course offers an interdisciplinary introduction to the study of the complex cultural and political paradigms of late socialism from a transnational perspective by focusing on the literature, cinema, and popular culture of the Soviet Union and China in 1980s. How were intellectual and everyday life in the Soviet Union and China distinct from and similar to that of the West of the same era? How do we parse “the cultural logic of late socialism?” What can today’s America learn from it? Examining two major socialist cultures together in a global context, this course queries the ethnographic, ideological, and socio-economic constituents of late socialism. Students analyze cultural materials in the context of Soviet and Chinese history. Along the way, we explore themes of identity, nationalism, globalization, capitalism, and the Cold War. Students with knowledge of Russian and Chinese are encouraged to read in original languages. All readings are available in English.   WR, HU
T 1:30pm-3:25pm

* RSEE 3329a / HIST 3498a / MMES 3300a / RUSS 3329a, Introduction to Modern Central Asia  Claire Roosien

An overview of the history of modern Central Asia—modern-day Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China. This course shows Central Asia to be a pivotal participant in some of the major global issues of the 20th and 21st centuries, from environmental degradation and Cold War, to women’s emancipation and postcolonial nation-building, to religion and the rise of mass society. It also includes an overview of the region’s longer history, of the conquests by the Russian and Chinese empires, the rise of Islamic modernist reform movements, the Bolshevik victory, World War II, the perestroika, and the projects of post-Soviet nation-building. Readings in history are supplemented by such primary sources as novels and poetry, films and songs, government decrees, travelogues, courtly chronicles, and the periodical press. All readings and discussions in English.  HU
TTh 1:05pm-2:20pm

* RSEE 4900a and RSEE 4910b, The Senior Essay  Nari Shelekpayev

Preparation of the senior essay under faculty supervision. The essay grade becomes the grade for both terms of the course. Required of all seniors majoring in Russian and East European Studies. Credit for RSEE 4900 only on completion of RSEE 4910.
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